An anti-crime expert is tortured, including the use of blindfolding and electric shock.

This is not fake news.

It is not real news.

It is “reel,” though, as in scenes from “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” theatrical feature movie.

“The Hitman’s Bodyguard” is slick, fast-paced, and expertly-made. It’s a spy versus spy thriller in the style of “The Bourne Identity,” “Mission Impossible” and “James Bond” movies. That’s the good news, and the bad news.

“The Hitman’s Bodyguard” unfolds with one chase scene after another, one scene after another that places the public in peril (admittedly, fictional, but frighteningly realistic), and one scene after another where gun violence, fighting, martial arts, and other scenes of physical conflict are often played for jeers (the juxtaposition of familiar pop and rock tunes as, for example, “Hello” by Lionel Richie, and “Little Queenie” by Chuck Berry, lends an irony of director Quentin Tarantino and his “Reservoir Dogs” to the proceedings).

“The Hitman’s Bodyguard” is billed as an Action-Comedy. That’s entertainment.

That’s too bad because in scenes where Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson), “The Hitman,” and Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds), the “Bodyguard,” banter and give each the side-eye shade, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” sizzles. The wry facial expressions and dour mouth of Reynolds is right from Wade Wilson-Deadpool in “Deadpool,” 2016. The eye-rolling, profane invectives of Jackson is right from almost every role he does. Reynolds and Jackson recall Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Jackson) in “Pulp Fiction” (1994).

The storyline isn’t much to write home about, nor write a movie review about, for that matter. Basically, Kincaid is to testify at the International Court of Justice against Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman), the dictator of Belarus, for alleged crimes against humanity.

A subplot involves Bryce and his girlfriend, Amelia Roussel (Elodie Yung), an Interpol agent. However, their relationship is presented as not much more than a character sketch. The movie-goer doesn’t gets much of a sense of the depth of their relationship.

Similarly, the relationship between Kincaid and his wife, Sonia (Salma Hayek), is deployed more as a denouement. Effective as that is, more screen time between Jackson and Hayek would have put more skin in the game for their characters.

That said, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” provides spectacular action sequences. The chase scenes are right up there with the best on the big screen. Production design, cinematography, and editing is superb. However, representations of violence are frequent and often graphic.

“The Hitman’s Bodyguard” is of chief interest for fans of Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson. One senses the potential for a sequel.

Credit Readers Anonymous:Sit through “The Hitman’s Bodygard” end credits for an out-take of Ryan Reynolds and the film crew waiting for a church bell to stop ringing so that filming of a scene can begin. The movie was filmed on location in London; Amsterdam, and other Netherlands locations, and in Bulgaria. Samuel L. Jackson sings “Nobody Gets Out Alive” over the end credits.

Box Office,Aug. 25: “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” bumped off the competition two weeks in a row (in what was said to be the slowest weekend box office in 15 years) with a repeat at No. 1 with $10 million and $39.6 million, two weeks, as “Annabelle: Creation” continued at No. 2, with $7.3 million, $77.8 million, three weeks, with “Leap!” opening at No. 3 with $5 million.

“Close Encounters of the Third Kind,”PG: Steven Spielberg directs Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr, and Melinda Dillon in the Science-Fiction Drama. In the movie theater re-release of the 1977 modern classic, an encounter with UFOs leads a utility line worker to, yes, a close encounter of the third kind, aka contact with an alien.